5 greatest fighters you have seen in your lifetime as a fan

Very nice list. Just curious, was Manny Pacquiao an oversight or do you just not think of him as being at the levels of these other greats.

 

I became a fan in 1982 so its hard because there were so many great fighters to choose from!

Duran
Chavez
Mayweather (Floyd, that is)
Hopkins
Trinidad

Salvador Sanchez could be here, alas, sadly, he only had one fight during my fandom years. Likewise Alexis Arguello was at the tail end. Sugar Ray Leonard was now in his on and off era.

In person?
Chavez (KO 4 Javier Fragoso)
Nelson (KO 11 Gomez)
Gomez (KO 2 Soto, KO by 11 Nelson)
Tszyu (KO3 Mitchell)
Rosario and Ramirez (Rosario W12 Ramirez)

Note I included Ramirez there. he should be in the IBHOF.

I also saw Julian Solis fight twice in person (and visited him in his house since he lived 10 minutes from me) Fantastic fighter but not hall of fame level.

 

I started watching boxing casually in 1986/87 due to Mike Tyson. I caught the end of Leonard and Hearns’ careers but guys who were active and still prime when I started following the sport more closely from early 1993 onwards:

1. Roy Jones Jnr
2. Manny Pacquiao
3. Floyd Mayweather Jnr
4. Pernell Whitaker
5. Julio Cesar Chavez (before he started losing)

 

Roy Jones Jr
Manny Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather Jr
Roman Gonzalez
Naoya Inoue

 

I am pinpointing September 1981 as the time I really started become a boxing fan due to Leonard-Hearns and Minter-Sibson fight taking place the day after one another, and the build-up that went with them (especially reading my uncle Tony’s Boxing News issue of the preview and then acting like some big expert to all my mates , even though were only 9 or 8 years old (i.e. I was 9 that week, because I was a September kid, blah blah blah).

Minter-Sibbo was especially thrilling, as we listened to it live on the radio and hearing the events unfold with our Terry and my cousin Kevin (who did always beat me in Subbuteo, as the Undertones said he would) as they were 14 and 16 at the time, them drinking Skol lager on the sly and me with a Top Deck shandy. Loved Sibbo, a tough lad, a happy hooker, who seemed to represent the ‘North’, although he was from Leicester, but ‘north of Watford Gap’ was good enough for us to cheer him on.

Anyway enough of the fluff, my top 5 (I’ve thought about this for the past 17 minutes, so I’m going for an order too).
1. Jones
2. Mayweather
3. Pacquiao
4. Leonard
5. Usyk

I’ve gone for Roy at #1. Gets top spot because at his best I thought he looked as close to unbeatable as anyone I’ve ever seen from a ‘here and now’ perspective- and at the same time realised he had the style that was never going to be as effective as, say, B-Hop, once he aged and slowed down, due to speed/reflex being so key. But for that decade until 2003, just incredible.

Whitaker just missing out here, but at least one of the Fab Four had to be there for me, due to their impact and in the 80s and overall 'greatness'. But despite Marv’s consistency, I have to go for Leonard, due to those big nights, big wins and how he came away with the best record of them all. May and Pac just incredible achievements so have to be in there (I liked Pac, couldn’t stand Mayweather, but come on, what a talent).

I felt I needed to put one heavy in there and Usyk fits the build on a pfp basis due to his achievement at cruiser too and, well, brilliant ability to outbox much bigger men. Evander could be considered due to similar achievements but had too much of a 'big win / big loss' record at heavy...although I think The Deal would have been a champ in any era myself, even if only temporarily in some cases.

 

The amount of butthurt that Mayweather has caused in this thread is remarkable (LOL at Larry Holmes over Floyd).

1. Mayweather
2. Jones
3. Usyk
4. Pacquiao (2nd best resume, but less talented than Jones and Usyk)
5. Chavez/Whitaker/Oscar/Crawford

In person:
1. Crawford (twice)
2. Rigondeaux
3. Donaire (twice)
4. Tank Davis
5. Estrada

HM Amanda Serrano and Beterbiev

 

I’ll go with seven guys I saw live in person. These are the greatest, although when I saw them wasn’t at their greatest with the exception of Mike Tyson (vs Spinks):

In no order:

Roy Jones Jr

Oscar de la Hoya

Michael Spinks

Evander Holyfield

Mike Tyson

Larry Holmes

George Foreman

 

Read between the lines.

 

I have watched boxing since the '90s so I'd say:

RJJ top, no question.
Pacqiuao.
Mayweather.
Usyk.
Toney, when he was on.

 

I have genuinely never seen a fighter as breathtaking as Roy Jones 1993 - 2003, watching boxing from the mid 1990s. I think the fact that he continued on for SO long, while severely diminished as a fighter has harmed his standing to some extent.
I remember watching him in Tarver 1 and thinking he was on the slide. And he looked absolutely finished v Glen Johnson - BUT he still carried on for years after that. And yet you still see morons on this site claiming he was still decent while getting washed by Calzaghe and Danny Green. Ludicrous. At his best he was astounding - and judging his best years is perfectly reasonable for a speed and reflexes fighter - he was 34 \ 35 when he lost to Tarver remember. RJJ was amazing for a long time - until he wasn't, for a long time. And he should have spotted the signs and finished sooner. But what a talent he was.

 

Floyd Mayweather Jr
Manny Pacquiao
Lennox Lewis
Oleksandr Usyk
Bernard Hopkins